Facebook bleibt Walled GardenAdExchanger

Facebook made the inevitable official by retiring the ad-serving component of Atlas, thereby making it primarily a people-based measurement pixel. Facebook’s ad stack looks quite different today than it did during Advertising Week 2014, when it first rolled out the revamped Atlas ad server it acquired in 2013 from Microsoft.

The company appeared ready to mount a challenge to Google’s DoubleClick, an impression confirmed by its acquisition of sell-side video platform LiveRail. Could Facebook put together a scaled, mature ad stack that would act as a check on Google’s power? Turns out it couldn’t.

The ‚Facebook DSP‘ we shall never see. FB remains ‚walled garden‘. No DSP with transparent steering mechanisms, since FB – other than Google – has too few influence on publishers (outside its own platform) – and might not be willing to share mobile best practices here. For publishers this is not the best news, in terms of independence. Header bidding enthusiasts will feel affirmed once more.